Healt
of the Swiss mountain dog

The
life expectancy of a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is about 10-11
years.

There
are several conditions within the Swissy population, where possible our
dogs are tested before they are bred.

HD;
hipdysplasia means that the hip joint isn´t optimal. The hip
bowl
may not deep anough, or the ball at the end of the upper leg
isn´t nice and round causing it not to fit in the bowl
properly.
If these parts don´t fit well together, it can cause problems
at
a young age. But mostly problem arise later on in life due to wear and
tear. HD is partly heriditary. As other factors also play a role, it
might develop differently in different dogs. Dogs can be screened for
HD by X-rays.

ED;
elbowdysplasia is the name for 4 different elbow malformities. Swissies
tend to have LCP. LCP (loose coronoid process) is a piece of bone of
the ulna that comes off. If the radius and ulna grow with different
speed, a lot of pressure comes on the elbow. This can cause the
breakage of the coronoid process. This is very painfull, think of a
little stone in your shoe. Like HD, ED is partially heriditary. Again
different factors are important, like good food and dosed physical
activity. Dogs can be screened
for ED by X-rays.

OCD;
osteochondrosis dissecans is a disturbance of the cartilage of the
joint. Cartilage fragments can come off and cause irritation in the
joint. Swissies should be screened for OCD in the shoulder joint by
X-ray.

Eye abnormalities, several eye abnormalities can occur within the
Greater Swiss Mountain Dog.

-
Entropion;
The eyelids curl towards the eye. The eyelashes touch the eye, causing
irritation and evently damage the eye if not surgically corrected.

- Distichiasis;
this is an
extra row of
eyelashes. Mostly they do not cause problems. Sometimes they do touch
the eye. In that case the lashes need to be burned away.

-
PPSC; Posterior
polair subcapsulair cataract is a specific sort of cataract. Mostly it
causes small turbidities in the eye, but doesn´t
lead to
blindness.

If
a dog will be used for
breeding, they
should undergo the ECVO eye exam. This exam should not be more than 1
year old at time of breeding. If the dog is 5 years or older and clear
of everthing, the ECVO eye exam doesn´t need to be
repeated.

Epilepsy;
unfortunately the breed suffers from epilepsy. Mostly the first
seizures occur when the dog is 1-3 years old. Swissies do not react
well to medication. Only the combination of phenobarbital and KBR seems
to work. It is very important to put a dog with epilepsy on drugs asap.
Every seizure lowers the threshold for another seizure.

Not
a lot is know about the
genetic
background of epilepsy within Swissies. That makes it very hard to
prevent the disease. We do try to collect as much information as
possible to decrease the rsik of epilepsy.

Incontinence
after spay;
more than half the Swissy bitches becomes incontinent after spaying.
The female hormones play an important role in the strenght of the
bladder sphincter. Take away the hormones and the sphincter
doens´t work properly, causing leaking of urine. This can
vary
from little drops to complete puddles. If your dog becomes incontinent
she will need hormone pills the rest of her life. The method of spaying
has no influence on the incontinence. As there are several other
negative effects of spaying/neutering, we recommend not to do it unless
medically necessary (voor
en nadelen castratie)

Bloat;
like all other dogs with a deep chest, Swissies are at risk of
bloating. Bloat studies do not seem to agree on the cause, but there
seems to be a genetic component. The risk of bloating increases with
age. Bloat is a life threatning disease, so please know th symptoms and
go to your vet immediately. The most important symptoms are
hard/inflated belly, trying to vomit within success, becoming lethargic
very fast.

Splenic torsion (Milttorsie);
often when a dog bloats the spleen will also rotate. But with Swissies
the spleen can also rotate on it´s own. This can be chronic
or
acute. A dog with a chronic splenic torsion is just not his normal
self, if it´s acute they can collaps. Luckily we
don´t see
this often in the Netherlands. But if your dog is just off, without any
reason, let your vet check the spleen with ultrasound.

Lick
fits; some Swissies
have lick fits. They starting licking all surfaces. The dog is restless
and wants to go outside to eat grass. If he cannot go outside he will
eat anything, which can cause severe problems. No research has been
done to the cause of the lick fits, but it seems to be an irritation of
the stomach. Feeding dry cookies, eating grass will help. Feeding
multiple smaller amounts a day seems to be better for the stomach.